Insert Self, Sakura
by Ryu Himora
Summary: Clow Reed had a friend back in China...


Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura is owned by CLAMP and is not the product of my own cells.

Insert Self, Sakura

By Ryu Himora

Chapter 1

"Ready to go, Sakura?"

In house located in Tomoeda, Japan, near the front door. two children were almost ready for school that day. One was a girl, ten years old, named Sakura Kinomoto. She looked up at the other child, a boy, also ten years of age. They were both dressed in the Tomoeda Elementary uniform, and had the standard collection of skate pads on. Both were on rollerskates.

"Yeah. We'll have to hurry to catch up with Yukito!"

"You should have gotten up earlier. Let's go, we're late enough already."

Ryu took off, and Sakura darted after him. They raced for several blocks, dodging various hazards, cars, other people, and the like. Eventually, they regrouped with Touya and Yukito and slowed down signifigantly.

"You're late, little monster."

"Oh, come on!" Sakura pouted. "Stop treating me like that!"

"I will when you stop being a monster."

Before Sakura could get more enraged, Ryu stepped in. "Don't let big brother get to you like that. You'll only encourage him."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Ryu," Yukito started, "Did I see your name on the archery practice list?"

"Yeah. I used to be good a couple years ago, but there was an accident this one time..." Ryu looked at his left forearm, where a long, thin scar was present. "I... still haven't gotten over it yet."

"Oh. Well, good luck then. I'll see you there. And I'll see you later, Sakura."

Sakura blushed as she and Ryu rolled to a stop in front of the elementary school, with Touya and Yukito continuing on. After a few seconds, Ryu nudged her with his elbow. "Come on, we can't be late today." Sakura was jerked back to awareness, and the pair hurried into the gates.

Beijing, China

Several Hundred Years Ago

A knock sounded on the door. Clow Reed inhaled fully and held it for a few seconds, then swiftly exhaled and opened his eyes. "Enter." He said. The door opened, and a rather tall man walked through. He had swept brown hair, green eyes, a somewhat feminine face, and wore plain clothes with a red cloak on top. As they talked, he approached Reed and sat cross-legged opposite him.

"Ryu Himora. It's been quite the while since I saw you last. I see you still some apprehension to fancy dress."

"It saves me money. How have you been, Reed?"

"Mmm. I can't complain. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise. I haven't met many competent magicians like you. What do you have there?"

"I've had an idea. Instead of these complicated rituals to cast spells, we could put the spell _itself_ into an object, and release it at our whim. It should work so long as the object is strong enough."

"Hmm." Ryu mulled the idea over, nodding slightly as he concluded. "That is a rather neat idea. What sort of object do you have in mind?"

"These thick paper cards. They won't tear with the right enchantment, and they're small enough to carry around. What do you think?"

"Well," Ryu picked up one of the cards, "The only problem I see is actually releasing the magic without it running wild."

"That's the only hurtle I found too. But I'm sure we could come up with something... together."

Ryu looked up. "You want my help on this?"

Reed nodded. "You're very meticulous in details. These will come out in a much higher quality with your assistance."

Ryu shrugged. "You do realize," he said, "That one day, when the world is powered by lightning and regular people can accomplish great feats without magic, and magicians like ourselves are long dead, that the great-great-grandchildren of our great-grandchildren, will in fact one day discover these cards and cause havok throughout the land?"

Reed was silent for a moment, the nodded. "I have thought of that. Are you with me?"

Ryu lowered his head and smiled. "Competent, foolhardy, _and_ reckless." He looked back up. "I like the way you think. Let's do this."

Sakura closed her bedroom door and sank to her knees, relieved to finally be home. She took a deep sigh as Kero floated out of his drawer and flew over to her.

"Rough day?" He asked.

"Yeah... We had a surprise japanese test that took half the day." Sakura got back up and walked over to her desk, put her school cap on the lamp and pulled her notebook out. Kero landed next to it as she began her homework.

"You know, Ryu's getting more suspicious of me every day. There's a good chance he has magic too. I sense -something- within him."

"So what should we do?"

"I don't know if I should reveal myself... But it's possible that Ryu could help somehow. Maybe you should tell him."

"I wouldn't know what to say... It's not like we could take Ryu with us to a Clow Card either..."

"Hmm..." Kero crossed his arms, trying to think. "We'll think of something. In the meantime, keep him in the dark." He stood up and walked over to the window, silently looking at the dark clouds overhead. "This storm..." He said after a few minutes, "It's not natural."

Sakura looked out the window. "I don't sense a clow card."

"Hmmm..."

Ryu sprinted down the street in his rollerskates with a flashlight, heading for Tomoeda Elementary. He'd needed to talk to her during the night, but when he'd heard lightning through an open window, he went in and found her missing... along with that yellow plush doll she always had with her for some reason.

That had clinched it for Ryu. Something was different about that doll, and he was determined to find out what. The lightning had been centered around the school, so he headed there. What awaited him as he burst through the already open gates stopped Ryu in his tracks.

On top of the school appeared to be a giant cat... made out of lightning. What made Ryu worried was that Sakura and Li were _advancing_ on it, with no apparent intention of running away as Ryu would. After several seconds, he shook himself back to awareness and bolted for the school - he had to get Sakura out of there as fast as possible!

After climbing several flights of stairs and two ladders, still in his skates, Ryu burst onto the roof. He got there just in time and the right position to catch Sakura as the lightning cat blasted her into his arms.

"Sakura! Are you hurt!"

"No... Uhh, Ryu!" Sakura jumped up as she realised who had caught her, and tried to hide the sealing staff.

"It's far too late to hide anything now." Ryu said. "What is that thing!"

Kero floated down beside Ryu's head. "It's a Clow card. Three months ago, Sakura released them from a big ol' book down in the library."

"I knew there was something different about you." Ryu stared at Kero.

Sakura turned back as the THUNDER roared. She briefly looked at Ryu to say "Leave this to me!", then jumped right back into the fray. Ryu's eyebrows went up at the action, and he simply stood there, unable to act.

"Sakura's been capturing these cards since she released them." Kero said. "She's quite good at it, considering her age."

"My sister does this sort of thing ALL THE TIME?" He watched Sakura and Li fight the feline for almost a minute. Eventually, something caught Ryu's eye - a thin, red card Sakura had dropped when she impacted him. He knelt over to pick it up. On the other side was a strange looking lady with THE WINDY written under her, and under that Sakura's name. He felt something... strange... coming from the card, and as Ryu stared it started glowing.

"Huh?" Kero floated closer. "It's reacting to you. Does that mean you have powers too?"

"I- I think it's telling me to do something..." Ryu started forward, which startled Kero.

"Hey! Don't get too close!"

Ryu looked at the ensuing battle, discerning the moves of the combatants. Time seemed to slow as his mind decided what to on on its own, and his mouth started moving. "Wind... head the beast off and leave him cornered!" The card floared up over his head, and Ryu's open hands followed it. "WINDY!"

Pink waves of magic emanated from the card as it was unlocked. Golden swirls emanated from it and began chasing the THUNDER. The giant cat ran from it, even sending out bursts of electricity to no avail. Eventually it was backed into a corner of the building, unable to fight back.

"Now, Sakura!" Ryu shouted.

"Right!" She ran up to take her position. "Return to the guise you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!"

The thunder felinoid roared as it was absorbed an reformed into the card. Wind swept through the area as WINDY went back to hers. The THUNDER fell, first to Sakura, then glided over to Li.

"Huh? But I sealed it away!" Sakura said.

"The Cards don't always go to the one who seals them." Kero said. "But my question is - How was Ryu able to do that!

"Hmmph. Another one unworthy of the Cards." Li began to walk off.

"Well I didn't see you doing much to help." Ryu said.

Li stopped. After several seconds, he turned around to face Ryu. "What. Did you. Say?"

Ryu's hand found a card as he stared Li down. "I may not know much about magic, but something tells me that if you could have sealed that beast, Sakura wouldn't have had to."

"I-" A flicker of rage and fear flashed across Li's face. "I wouldn't have a single problem sealing the Cards. And I don't have to tell you anything else, powers or no." Li turned back around and swiftly jumped to a lower adjacent building.

After a minute of solid silence, Kero floated over to Ryu. "That was impressive, Ryu. I'm guessing you don't know how you did it, though. Even I don't know, really."

Ryu remained staring in the direction of Li's exit. "Sakura," he said, without turning to her, "You have a lot of explaining to do."


End file.
